What's a good beginner tropical/arboreal lizard?

[Alicewave]

My bf wants a chameleon but Neither of us have enough experience with that. can anyone suggest a good "stepping stone" lizard that climbs trees and likes humidity?

[Jeff_Favelle]

Anoles.

[DragnDrop]

You won't go wrong with them.
They're very easy to care for, tame nicely, cutest little faces on them, and eat fruit as well as bugs.
They don't need extra heat, if you're comfy, they are, but do need a bit more humidity than normal for human comfort (misting twice a day is usually enough).
They come in all sorts of colours and patterns too, you're bound to find one you can't live without.

Leopard geckos are beginner geckos of the terrestrial kind. Cresties are THE BEST geckos of the glass climbing/tree hugging kind - beginner and advanced.

How can you resist this face????

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/511/321romeo-med.jpg

Check out the care info and more pictures at
Crested Gecko International (http://www.geocities.com/crestedgecko/)

I also have pictures of mine at Webshots:
Crested Gecko pictures at Webshots (http://community.webshots.com/user/1derfool )

[nouserpif]

Yep. Anoles, or from what I hear, long tailed grass lizards are very easy/neat... Another one you might want to check out is a HOUSE gecko... Likes to climb, doesn't need UV light, and is very basic, but nice...
Dan conner

[Lisa]

flying geckos are interesting too... they don't really fly, they glide like flying squirls.

[Tim Winegard]

Yah I would go with the anoles
I had about 5 in the same cage and they are quite comical to watch at feeding time. Although I have never had a crested gecko I do want one.

[Alicewave]

Hmmm, I don't think I can resist that face!! And neither can Chris. Looks like a crested might be the way to go. If anyone else has and good links about them or books to reccommend let me know. Thanks guys!

[V.aw]

Ive always recommended australian water dragons.
They are soo hardy you cant kill them. Providing you can house them properly in a large enclosure, they usually tame down with gentle handling and make very nice display reptiles.
Not nearly as sensitive as chameleons.


Anoles are neat too.. But i dont find them to really portray the "dinosaur" appearance alot of people are attracted to lizards for. They're just too small to really expieriance a real lizard! but its all a matter of opinion.

[DragnDrop]

Originally posted by Alicewave
Hmmm, I don't think I can resist that face!! And neither can Chris. Looks like a crested might be the way to go. If anyone else has and good links about them or books to reccommend let me know. Thanks guys!

In my original post, I incuded links to a website for care info, and a link to my online album with more crestie pictures (and other herps). Check for them below the picture.
You can't go wrong with crested geckos - they are so sweet, calm down (babies are a bit skittish but doesn't take long for them to calm down).

And .... post pics when you get yours. :)

[Alicewave]

Cool thanks, I did check out your links. Awesome pictures. I think we may pick one up at the next White Plains show!

[HyGhBr|d]

Asian Water Dragons are good beginner lizards too, they grow to about 36 inches, very tame and are great guys

[snakegal12345]

go with cresties there cool

[Brock]

Actually veiled chameleons aren't as hard as most people think. Only the more montane species are delicate along with the pygmys. I'd say go right into a veiled chameleon. Make sure you spend at least a month reading about them first, I spent 2 months staying up till 5am most days reading about them before I bought mine and I still find myself reading about them and missing school the next day. You can make a wooden-screen cage for relatively cheap (10-50$ depending on where you get supplies or what you have already), all you need is a spray bottle (2$), reflective heat lamp (10$ at CanadianTire), an 18" UV fixture (12$ at WalMart) and some plants (4-10$ each at WM), along with the calcium, vit D3, and multi-vitamin dusts and you're set. Feed them once every day or two days, mist them once or twice a day and it's that simple. You can also let them be once they are over 6months old for up to 4 or 5 days (although I obviously don't recommend that).

If you have any specific questions come to the cham forum, we can help you out further there if you decide to get a vieled or a nice panther (opt for a male for both species).

Either that or crested geckos or day geckos.

-Brock